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Need Some OES MacCat Advice...

Hey Folks,

So...I've been in limbo with OES tarps to try and get a MacCat Deluxe SpinnUL. Recently Brian from OES e-mailed me saying that the quality of the SpinnUL has not passed weatherproofing, which I guess has been going on for the past six months. What this means is that there will be no SpinnUL coming. My set up is a HH hyperlite with yeti UQ. I went for the deluxe because I liked the idea of the bigger tarp providing better protection, especially since I'm still fairly new at this hammocking stuff. Since I must get a silnylon tarp, I was thinking of going with the standard instead since the weight is the same as the SpinnUL deluxe. I was just wondering if the standard will be adequate. I will use this setup thru-hiking the AT SOBO this year. Do you think I'd have any issues with the standard?

With good site selection and knowing were the wind is coming from you should have No issue with the size of the standard. I have slept in heavy wind and rain and was dry while my tent buddies were swimming in the puddles. When pitched down tight to my hammock it covers very well and When you don't need so much coverage you can open up the front in Porch mode to enjoy the views

Have you considered Cuben Fiber? Much lighter, packs smaller, more waterproof than sil. Check out Zpacks.

Brian makes a great tarp however with him being out of material I second Whayneneal, look into cuben from Joe at z-packs He will do any custom tarp you wish in pretty much any ridge line length. I have a custom tarp from Joe on the way and he was very easy to work with. I'm a big tarp fan so I hear what your saying. For the past year and a half I've used a winter tarp all year round and thoroughly enjoy the amount of coverage it offers.

Sometimes I like to hike and think, And sometimes I just like to hike.

Hiking is'ent about waiting for the storm to pass its about learning to hike in the rain.

Well this is sad news. I was just about to pull the trigger on a MacCat Standard; and I've heard nothing but great stuff about the SpinnUL, and some very specific complaints about the waterproofness of the Spinn fabric.

I guess this is a lost purchase to Brian and a gained purchase elsewhere

There is also the Edge tarp from Warbonnet. It's directly between the Maccat standard and deluxe in size. Or if you want to go big, you could get a Mamajamba. They're both offered in Spinn.

If the Spinn that Brian has is not up to par why should I think the Spinn that anyone has right now is good? I don't want to spend $160+ on a tarp to only find out it's not waterproof as I was expected to believe.

If the Spinn that Brian has is not up to par why should I think the Spinn that anyone has right now is good? I don't want to spend $160+ on a tarp to only find out it's not waterproof as I was expected to believe.

Because neither of those guys (or any of our cottage shops for that matter) are going to throw their reputation out the window just to move tarps. If Brandon is selling it, it is of good quality.

That said, I carried a Standard MacCat during the warm months on my AT adventure. It is plenty of tarp for a thru-hiker. I carried much bigger (SuperFly) early when the weather was misery, but I carried a Standard from mid-April down south to September up north. There were a handful of times that I wished I still had my large tarp, but they were few and far between and mostly just whining.